Restaurant Hemingway and a walk around BoZ

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” — Miriam Beard, American author and historian

​LUCKY US to discover that the Grand Hotel de Draak has a Michelin-rated restaurant on the premises: Restaurant Hemingway.

Never any doubt as to where we would have dinner, but first we took a walk around Bergen op Zoom. Below are some pictures . . . but if you haven't seen the previous post about BoZ, you might want to check out that post first so that you can properly appreciate this jewel. 

A typical street in the center of Bergen op Zoom.

So that's where our Shiva came from. Who knew?!

The Gertrudiskerk. The towers of this church are called "pepper plant towers". An old legend says Saint Gertrude of Nivelles founded the church in 654. The older part of the church dates to around 1370.

We came across this building containing a series of tunnel arches. Going through was a little bit like going down a rabbit hole; we weren't sure where we'd end up.

We enjoyed our meal excessively. Hemmingway is the kind of place where you come for dinner and stay the evening.

First we were served an aperitif and an amuse. Then for starters I had the ravioli with shrimp, fennel, lobster bisque and Cognac. Paul had the carpaccio with Dutch beef, black olives, pine nuts, capers and Parmesan cheese. 

As a main course, I had the catch of the day: sea bream with risotto and olives, sea lavender and sweet and sour fennel. Paul had the entrecôte (premium cut of beef) with hasselback potatoes, radishes, shallots, celery and oyster leaf. For dessert Paul had the cheese plate, and I had the tarte tatin with figs, bay leaves and mascarpone. The whole dinner was stunningly inexpensive: $44 each, so a total of $88! Wow!! At a comparable restaurant in the US, our meal would have been upwards of $200. 

This is Willy, our server. He's worked in this restaurant for 30 years. It was obvious how that might happen: he's great at his job! Our chef was Bart Van Oefelen, a stellar artisan, as evidenced by the photo and food descriptions.